Mariners' compass is pointing south

On baseball

A fashionable pick when spring training began, the Mariners are trending badly at the time things are turning serious.

Perhaps this is to be expected, for a variety of reasons.

They improved by 24 victories last season, the first for general manager Jack Zduriencik and manager Don Wakamatsu to work together. History says teams that improve that much from one season to the next rarely win more games the next year.

Also, the Mariners won 85 games but weren't really an 85-win team. The Pythagorean standings, based largely on runs scored and allowed, had them for 75 victories. A combination of decision-making by Wakamatsu and luck produced 10 victories.

And finally, the Mariners took on the ordeal known as Milton Bradley. What were they thinking? In the middle of the 2007 season, I was sitting with an MLB staffer when a call came in about a trade. It was the A's sending Bradley to the Padres, and the staffer was puzzled a contender would gamble on Bradley.

"Everybody thinks they can be the one to fix this guy," the executive said. "The talent's there, so everybody runs right past all the stop signs. I can't believe so many people are that dumb."

Two free agent signings (Rangers and Cubs) and a trade (Mariners) later, this wisdom still applies. It has been pounded home this spring by the ongoing war between Bradley and umpires - not unlike the situation that contributed to his slow start with the Cubs last season.

Bradley compared himself to troubled singer Kanye West, among others.

"I'm that guy," Bradley said. "You need people like me, so you can point your finger and go, 'There goes the bad guy.' "

Seattle Times reporter Geoff Baker found another comparison: Tony Montana, the organized crime heavy Al Pacino played in "Scarface" who also saw himself as a necessary evil.

"You need people like me," Montana said. "You need people like me so you can point your (bleeping) fingers and say, 'That's the bad guy.' "

With Adrian Beltre and 2009 surprise Russell Branyan gone via free agency, the Mariners are building a National League-style lineup around speedsters Ichiro Suzuki and Chone Figgins. Somebody has to drive in runs, however, and that's where Zduriencik may have been overly optimistic by counting on Bradley (career-high 77 RBIs) and 40-year-old Ken Griffey Jr.

Acquiring lefty Cliff Lee cost the Mariners three ranked prospects, including pitcher Phillippe Aumont. That's a gamble given Lee's impending free agency, and a run of spring training injuries could have Lee on the disabled list to start the season.

Wakamatsu confirmed that he's looking at taking Jason Vargas and Doug Fister north as starters while Lee is out. Lee has had his next catch session put off until Wednesday. That's quite a difference from the every-other-day sessions that had been planned and were supposed to resume Saturday.

The Mariners, who aren't going anywhere without 60-plus starts from Felix Hernandez and Lee, already were crossing their fingers about lefty Erik Bedard. He has been able only to long toss in spring training, and that's rarely a good thing.

Kept waiting: The Dodgers have an ace-in-waiting in Clayton Kershaw, but Joe Torre declined to acknowledge the 22-year-old's significance when he set his rotation. He handed the Opening Day start to Vicente Padilla, whom the Dodgers added after the Rangers released him last season.

"We just had to pick somebody, and he was the one," Torre said. "Am I going to say he's better than the other guys? I can't do that. We just decided to line them up that way."

Padilla has shelved his head-hunting ways since his release from the Rangers, who blamed him for too often making his teammates targets of retaliation. He leads the majors with 98 hit batters since 2002, followed by knuckleballer Tim Wakefield (85) and temperamental Carlos Zambrano (80).

Cloudy outlook: You might want to hold off on selecting Corey Hart in your fantasy draft. The Brewers' right fielder has been a mess this spring (batting .143), his problems dating from his physical exam. The team diagnosed him as nearsighted, and since then he hasn't resembled a career .273 hitter.

Hart was open to suggestions after a disappointing 2009, but his problems only have grown since he confronted the vision issue. He tried regular eyeglasses but didn't like them. He then spent time waiting for prescription sports glasses but last week decided to try contacts, which he originally didn't want to try.

The last word: "You can keep anybody if you want to pay the market price." - Brewers GM Doug Melvin on Joe Mauer's eight-year, $184 million contract extension with the Twins.